grandparents and reading

18 years ago

Hello All,

I'm a new member, but not a new Gran. I've got two of those wonderful kids, boy 14 and girl 12.

I'm also a fulltime freelance writer and hope people in this group might want to participate in articles I write about grandparenting.

Moderator: If you want to check me out to be sure I'm legit, please email me at either writtersuz@aol.com or hall1958@aol.com.

Right now I desperately want some grandparent stories on how they encourage their grandchildren to read and love reading.

Please get in touch asap.

Thank you.

Suzanne

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Comments (5)

User
18 years ago
Good luck
marge727
18 years ago
When we travel we pick up books to share with the grandchildren. We recently went to Australia and purchased Australian nursery rymes and Wambat stew. Our grandchildren loved those. Our grandchildren range in age from 7 down to 2 year old twins and a new baby. We have a children's shelf of books and when they visit or we babysit at our house we always spend time reading. One thing I would share is that when you buy a book write yourname on the inside front cover and where and when you got the book. If you buy a book for them to keep, do the same and print a little note "to Susy--gramma and granddad got this for you on a trip to ___". or I got this at a little bookstore where there was a cat."
I recently was digging through boxes and found a book that my daughter in law received from her aunt 20 years ago.Auntie had written a cute note and dated it. You can be sure we will show it to the grandchildren for our next reading time.
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Ok...well I thought I would give my thoughts...you are so right...there is no reason for jealousy because how could any parent not want the grandparents to love their child... But here is where the reptile...a snake in this case spits venom....when a DIL sees that her children may lean more favorable to their husbands mother...that is a no-no.....in my case, I am the more fun grandmother...my grandchildren gravitate to me when around both grandparents.... My DIL hates it and likely me as well...and for this reason...she just backed off in our lives...our son basically goes with her flow...so we are grandparents with a lot of love to give but only when we initiate a time with them....my son only comes over with his family on a holiday or a meal is involved...but I have had some foot issues in the last couple of years...not as active...and just had surg. To correct these issues...no visit...DIL or son has not gone out for a card for the kids to send...nothing ever nevrr... This got worse when DIL's mother left her husband and moved to the area...she used me for years as a babysitter...hated to see any attention her children gave me or me to them...she did not seem that interested in her own grandmother...so maybe that was the telltale sign of who she is.. While it takes a village, I am no village idiot...I know when I am being rejected....now my other DIL is expecting and I can tell it will be the same way...she knows how close my grandchildren were to me...she has a mother..she will protect her mothers best interest...I have decided to just let it be.... I am not going to put myself out there for anymore hurt...life is too short...and I am dealing with other issues in my own home to worry about someone elses....she is the most controlling person I have ever seen...she is even trying to control what people buy the baby for the baby shower tomorrow...which thankfully I am not attending.. I refuse to show up in a boit cast and crutches only 3 wks from surgery for this woman...its not the babys day yet...its still hers...I bought some great gifts for the baby, but was told that she told her own mother if she did not get the right item, she would take it back... I even hesitate to give these items to her....for fear it will not be to her liking....never mind they are very nice items....this is just what my sons went out into the world and married...the total opposite of their mother....
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I, too, am concerned about the dog situation. Perhaps I'm reading things that aren't there, but you said the dog was released from a pen--that sounds like it wasn't truly a 'house pet' kind of animal. Animals who spend a lot of time in pens often aren't as well socialized as those who spend all their time with the family and are much more likely to act aggressively. I'm sorry, but in a case like that, allowing the dog to run free around a 3-year-old when no one was apparently keeping an eye on the situation was a really, REALLY dangerous thing to do--the result was predictable. You also said that they sued your ins. to cover their medical bills and seemed to have a problem with with that--that's what you have insurance for. Why should the parents have footed the bill for damage your dog and your husband's carelessness caused? Your message seems to indicate that the little girl was pretty seriously hurt ('she's healed nicely' and the fact that their suit was apparently successful seem to indicate her wounds were fairly substantial). Actually, a dog bite is one of the easiest ways to get your home-owners cancelled--the companies consider that responsible pet owners have a duty to keep their pets under control, that bites are preventable. You seem to be blaming them for the cancellation--I don't know many young families today who can afford major medical bills, they probably did the only thing they could. You could, of course, prevented the claim, by offering to pay the bills yourself, right? Please consider how you would have felt years ago, if you thought someone caused harm and hurt to one of your children--you sound like you care about your children and would like to care about your gk--I imagine you'd have been pretty upset if someone else hurt one of them. Can you put yourself in the parents shoes and imagine how they might feel? I feel very badly that you're not getting to see your granddaughter as much as you'd like, but I do agree with the above poster. Some counselling would certainly be in order--for all the family--so that you can work out the many issues that your family faces. Good thoughts to you, your husband and the rest of your family. I truly hope you find the help you need to work this all out.
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neesie
18 years ago
I'm not a grandma yet but hope you won't mind me contributing my two cents, since I love to read.

I remember my mom crawling into bed with my brother and me and reading "chapter" books before we were old enough to read them on our own. We couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen! When I grew up and had three children of my own I dedicated time to reading to them one on one since they were four years apart and it wasn't as often as my mom did. She was a SAHM and I worked full-time.

So what I think is that Grandparents have the opportunity to give their grandchildren that quality time that their working parents may not be able to give. (Even if the parents do have the best of intentions). One of the things I am most looking forward to when I am a Grandma is that wonderful one-on-one reading time. Or if I am very, very, lucky multiple-on-one reading time! What a good excuse to re-visit Little House on the Prarie and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates!
blues2elmo
17 years ago
I have a two year old grandson that we keep 2-3 days at a time every week. We read to him every day--sometimes we will read 50 to 60 chilrend books a day. He loves it and he is very clever. Our childrens book collection grows every week! I try to get books that concide with activities we are planning--movies, amusement parks, aquaruim where he will recognize the animals and places. I love to read and I'm pretty sure our grandson will, too.
marry
17 years ago
Our little granddaughter is two and a half, and we just read, read, read! We have her for several days and nights at a time so she has her own books here as well as trips to the library for "new" books! We buy books for her almost every time that we are out shopping! How can you not? LOL

grandparents and reading

Comments (5)

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marge727

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